I set up a DIY auto water that, so far, has worked flawlessly for me.
You'll need:
A reservoir. I bought a 30 gal plastic bin at my local Walmart. Works great. Not as sturdy as I would like but it gets the job done. Once it cracks I'll hit up Home Depot and buy the black bin with the yellow lid.
A pump. I bought my pump at Harbor Freight. 264 gallon pump.
Feed Line. I bought a 50 foot reel of 1/4" landscaper drip line.
Distribution Head. I bought an 8 port drip head at HD.
Riser. You'll need a 6" or longer, depending on where you want to mount it, to connect to your distribution head.
Hose. I bought a reel of 1/2" vinyl hose to connect the riser and distro head to the pump. In the picture I have clear vinyl hose. Try and use black vinyl hose so that you don't get algae in the line.
Digital Timer. I bought a digital timer from Harbor Freight. I use it to turn the pump on and off when I want to water. The first time out I will turn the timer on and see how long it takes before I get full saturation with runoff. I program the timer for the days I want to water and the time I want the system to be watering the plants.
My first version used drip barbs to make watering rings. Worked fine but I'm changing it up and will order watering plates from Floraflex's Matrix series. It'll do a better job of watering evenly than the water rings do.
Product Description Upgrade your irrigation system with the FloraFlex MATRIX | 9" - 10.5" (12 PACK). This pack of 12 round matrix units is an essential component of the innovative FloraFlex Matrix System, designed to provide a top feeding wicking system for your potted plants. By utilizing a...
floraflex.com
So the assembly goes like this. Pump to 1/2" vinyl hose to distro head riser to distro head to feed lines to each pot to Floraflex watering plates. When you lay out the feed lines make sure they are all the same length even if your pots are closer and don't need the length. It will serve to deliver water evenly to each pot but if you want to fine tune the water flow you can do it at the distro head.
Here's a visual if you're still unsure....
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